Course Details
Course offered Spring 2014
Honors 222 C: Pain (NSc)
Honors 222 C: Pain (NSc)
SLN 14699 (View UW registration info »)
John Loeser (Neurological Surgery; Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine)
Phone: 206-499-1408
Email: jdloeser@uw.edu
Phone: 206-499-1408
Email: jdloeser@uw.edu
Credits: 5
Limit: 25 students
Pain presents a challenge as a problem in science, as a problem in health policy and patient treatment, and as a problem in understanding deeper human experiences. Pain is a universal experience. While all of us have experienced acute pain following surgery or an injury, not all of us have experienced chronic pain, which is pain that persists after tissue healing has occurred, usually > 3 months after injury. In this seminar course, we will explore pain from multiple perspectives. Some of these include the physiology, pathophysiology and psychology of pain, the epidemiology of and risk factors for pain, the subjective experience of pain. Readings, short lectures, and discussions will address the “sciences” of pain, the expression of pain in literature, philosophic analyses of pain, and social science/anthropologic analyses of pain and its role in different cultures..
Students will be evaluated on the basis of a term paper on a topic of interest to the student (after discussion with one of the instructors), weekly “thought” pieces based upon the week’s reading, and class participation.
We encourage students from any discipline to enroll in the course. It is specifically designed to incorporate multidisciplinary perspectives, and presupposes only a general education and inquisitiveness.
Portfolio Contribution: Term paper and collated weekly writing.
The class will meet for three hours, once per week during the Spring Quarter of 2014. Students will be provided with a reading list for each session; it is our expectation that every student will read some of the suggested materials prior to the class and be able to enter into a discussion of the day’s topic. Lectures by the faculty will be kept to a minimum; the class time will be spent discussing the topic and the readings. We expect each student to turn in at the beginning of each class meeting a 1-2 page brief review of the readings that the student has undertaken for that session. Each student will be required to write a term paper of 10-20 pages length on a topic related to pain of his/her choice. Discussion of the proposed topic with one of the faculty prior to writing is strongly suggested. There will be no final examination. The grade will be based upon class participation (50%) and the term paper (50%).
Students will be evaluated on the basis of a term paper on a topic of interest to the student (after discussion with one of the instructors), weekly “thought” pieces based upon the week’s reading, and class participation.
We encourage students from any discipline to enroll in the course. It is specifically designed to incorporate multidisciplinary perspectives, and presupposes only a general education and inquisitiveness.
Portfolio Contribution: Term paper and collated weekly writing.
The class will meet for three hours, once per week during the Spring Quarter of 2014. Students will be provided with a reading list for each session; it is our expectation that every student will read some of the suggested materials prior to the class and be able to enter into a discussion of the day’s topic. Lectures by the faculty will be kept to a minimum; the class time will be spent discussing the topic and the readings. We expect each student to turn in at the beginning of each class meeting a 1-2 page brief review of the readings that the student has undertaken for that session. Each student will be required to write a term paper of 10-20 pages length on a topic related to pain of his/her choice. Discussion of the proposed topic with one of the faculty prior to writing is strongly suggested. There will be no final examination. The grade will be based upon class participation (50%) and the term paper (50%).